Rodney Saint-Éloi, an infinite love for Bertha, his Haitian mother

Audio 29:00

Writer and editor Rodney Saint-Éloi in the studio at RFI (December 2021).

© Catherine Fruchon-Toussaint/RFI

By: Catherine Fruchon-Toussaint

1 min

Born in Haiti, Rodney Saint-Éloi lives in Montreal.

Poet, novelist, essayist, he is the founder of the publishing house Mémoire d'encrier.

Winner of the Charles Biddle Prize, which highlights the exceptional contribution of people who have immigrated to Quebec, he is a member of the Académie des lettres du Québec.

"We will not betray the poem", the anthology of her poems was published in the Points collection, and her story "

", a tribute to her mother, by Héloïse d'Ormesson.

Advertising

When it's sad Bertha sings by Rodney Saint-Eloi © Editions Héloïse d'Ormesson

"In this beautifully written story, the author pays homage to his mother, Bertha. This great black lady of exemplary energy and generosity, "in love with love", has just died. Rodney, her eldest son, recounts the blue childhood in their native country, their journey of exile, she in New York, he in Montreal. The son dialogues with the mother. He is the one who grew up under the dictatorship, who dreamed of being a writer and who manages to put words to anger, pain, joy, courage and love. She is the mother who carries the memory of the "rotten country" and the light of hope. Bertha's words, poignant and beautiful, makes the music and the dignity of this art of being a mother heard."

(Presentation of

)

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Literature

• Haiti

• Canada

• Quebec

• Women

• France

• Culture

On the same subject

Koze Kilti

Koze Kilti on a trip to Montreal: Rodney Saint Éloi, a Haitian magician

The Francophone Summer Bookstore

The Francophone Club with Dany Laferrière and Rodney Saint Eloi

Portrait of Rodney Saint Eloi